Monday, the hosts of the View finally got around to discussing Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren’s cringeworthy video from last week, where she awkwardly opened a beer while announcing her 2020 bid for president. While many on the right mocked the apparent shameless pandering, View co-host Sunny Hostin actually defended it as “authentic” on Monday’s show.
In the Instagram live video posted on New Year’s Eve, Warren greets her viewers before abruptly going off camera saying, “Hold on a sec, I’m going to get me a beer.” She awkwardly offers one to her husband before answering questions from viewers while drinking the beer.
After playing a short clip from the video, the hosts and audience lightly chuckled but then came to Warren’s defense. Co-host Joy Behar began by refusing to believe that Warren was pandering. “She's joking!” Behar said animatedly, rushing to argue that this was somehow an “homage” to George W. Bush.
“It's based on the fact that when George W. Bush was running against Al Gore they said, ‘Oh he's a stiff, George W., you can have a beer with him!’ That's what that’s about. That’s an homage to George W. Bush,” Behar stated before repeating that Warren wasn’t serious. “I think that she's kidding. I do. If she’s not, she needs to talk to me,” Behar cracked.
But Meghan McCain was more skeptical. “The political instincts are way off if that was intended to be a joke,” she quipped.
Fellow co-host Sunny Hostin also came to Warren’s defense saying it seemed “authentic” to her.
“She's been on the show. We've had her a couple of times. She does seem -- she's a hokey person, like a hokey personality,” she argued.
“What do you mean hokey?” Behar questioned.
Hostin struggled to explain, saying she was a “former teacher,” and the video seemed to be consistent with her personality.
“Yeah. I don't know. It seemed very authentic to me,” she stated. Behar agreed that Warren wouldn’t try to pass herself off something she wasn’t, saying she was “very substantive.”
“She's very -- she's a substantive person I think!” Behar agreed.
“I read it authentically,” Hostin repeated, as McCain went on to note that Warren faced an uphill battle as an establishment Democrat in the 2020 race.
